


the parade

by SalazarTipton



Series: a life of our own [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Support, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Secret Marriage, Secret Relationship, canon-typical heteronormativity, waking up together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22577440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazarTipton/pseuds/SalazarTipton
Summary: Michael is going to stand here in the beating sun and be there for Alex, no matter the circumstances.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: a life of our own [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1298003
Comments: 12
Kudos: 110





	the parade

Alex wakes all at once in the still-dark of the early AM. Years of set schedules and being ready at a moment’s notice have done wonders for his career and keeping him alive, but they’ve basically killed his ability to sleep in. (If he’s honest with himself, he lost that long before the Air Force when sleeping through his alarm meant meeting certain  _ punishments _ .) He blinks his eyes open, taking in his surroundings. He’s seen the inside of Michael’s Airstream through the pixelated, poor connection of Skype sessions when they could manage and pieced together details of it over the years, but being here is a whole different beast. 

When Alex was on leave and close enough, they would meet up somewhere. Coming back to Roswell always felt claustrophobic when they wanted to make the most of every second together. They wanted to be able to go out and grab dinner, hold hands, and just  _ be a couple _ without small town minds and a certain Monster Sergeant (as Michael gleefully referred to his father-in-law) bursting their happy bubble. 

So, even though Michael’s had the Airstream for years, Alex hasn’t had the pleasure until now. He didn’t lie yesterday when he first saw it; it is  _ so inherently Guerin _ \--unexpected, in your face, and self reliant. 

Alex rolls on his side to face Michael. His hair is a mess from rubbing against his pillow. He goes to brush a hand through it, but thinks better of it. He doesn’t want to risk waking him up and miss out on seeing him so relaxed and open. His steady breath rising his toned chest again and again is just another bonus of the scene before Alex. And so is his toned, hair-speckled stomach exposed from the sheets thrown down to his legs when he started overheating. He has always been a walking, talking furnace. 

* * *

“Michaaael! I brought coffee,” Noah calls from his SUV. “You better be up because I really don’t feel like dragging you out of bed. That’s Isobel’s thing.”

He tries to bury his head back into his pillow, but it starts moving underneath him. Michael squints his eyes open and realizes his pillow is, in fact, his husband. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Michael grumbles against his skin with a pout that can’t help but bring a soft smile to Alex’s tired face. 

“I was enjoying the view and I thought you weren’t leaving until seven…”

“With Isobel in charge?” Michael scoffs. “Everyone needs to be an hour ahead of schedule or the world is gonna explode. I’ll get rid of Noah. Don’t move.”

Alex leans back against the mattress, making a show of being comfortable right where he is as Michael scrambles over top of him and stands beside the bed, doing a spin eyeing the floor in search of his pants. He can’t help reaching out to give Michael’s bare ass a light smack. 

“You better hurry up, cowboy. I don’t need your brother-in-law seeing me naked.”

“Isn’t he your brother-in-law too? Or is that a brother-in-law-in-law?” 

Alex tosses a sock at him. 

Michael hurries out the door with his jeans barely hanging onto his hips, making sure it shuts behind him so Noah can’t see inside. 

“Hey, man, I know I’m supposed to head to town with you, but I’ve kinda got company,” Michael blurts out as fast as he can. Noah’s eyebrows go up and Michael can see him fighting off a smirk. 

“Oh! Well, all right. You still planning on coming? Isobel will have your head--”

“Yeah, this isn’t going to interfere. We came out here in my truck so…”

Noah nods and hands him both of the coffees in his hands. “You can probably use these. Don’t wanna keep her waiting,” Noah says as he turns the car back on. Michael fights back the reflex sneer at the wrong pronoun. He should be used to people’s assumptions about him by now, right? Even when it comes to his family...especially, even. 

He doesn’t wait for the dust to clear after Noah before heading back to the Airstream. With his hands full of coffee he doesn’t have any hands to open the door, so he uses his TK. It’s not like there’s anyone out on Foster’s Ranch to see him this early. The sun is barely up and Mr. Foster hasn’t been too motivated for dawn chores in the past few months. 

“I gained coffee,” Michael says once he’s inside, holding out a cup to Alex. “No clue what kinda flavored shit Noah’s put in it, though.”

* * *

Michael leans back against the hot brick of the building and tilts up the brim of his hat to see Alex a little better by the podium without the sun beating into his eyes. Isobel steps up to the microphone and talks all about “Roswell’s golden boy” serving his country, living up to the Manes family name, and doing the town proud. If you didn’t know Alex, he’d look politely appreciative of her words, but Michael knows better. Internally, he’s gagging and wants out from under everybody’s gaze. If he had a better phone, Michael would take a picture to tease him with later tonight. He doesn’t let himself think about how a spouse should be up on that stage with their husband. They don’t get those kinds of luxuries. 

The crowd is clapping and now Monster Sergeant is taking Isobel’s place. Micheal grits his teeth. He flexes his crumpled fingers as much as they’ll allow. He’d love nothing more than to back into the alley and get the hell away from that bastard, but he stands his ground. Only a few sentences into the speech, he meets Michael’s eyes. 

Alex maintains his military composure, but Michael can practically feel his relief at seeing him in the crowd. This is why he came--not for Isobel and her need to ‘help the community,’ but so he can stand by his husband (at least metaphorically) while he’s in a very uncomfortable position keeping quiet about the lies about the town loving him when to his face they’ll throws slurs at him and giving a smile as his horrible, abusive father talks about how proud his is of his son for giving a part of himself up for his country. Michael is going to stand here in the beating sun and listen to this shit for him. Tonight he’ll be there for Alex too, whether he wants to scream, cry, and just let himself go with his skin pressed against his. He’ll be there for however Alex wants him. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you kindly for reading! i'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! what would you like to see in this series? does alex know about aliens? has michael confided in anyone over the years about his secret relationship?  
> find me on [tumblr](http://creaturejaskier.tumblr.com)


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